Chamber and committees

Forestry Commission Scotland Internal Audit services are used to test for compliance with procedures under the Environmental Impact Assessment legislation. The last audit was carried out in 2014 and this gave substantial assurance that guidance was being complied with and that objectives were being achieved.

Forest Enterprise Scotland, an agency of Forestry Commission Scotland, manages Scotland’s National Forest Estate (NFE) on behalf of Scottish Ministers. FES uses - at a national level - the National Strategic Directions publication, which sets out how the conservation of biodiversity is delivered across the NFE in line with the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act (2004). In prioritising biodiversity related work programmes, Forest Enterprise Scotland is guided by the Scottish Forestry Strategy, as well as the biodiversity guidelines contained within the UK Forestry Standard. The actions taken, and progress achieved, are reported annually in the published Forest Commission Scotland Annual Review, as required by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011). In addition, the independent certification of the NFE under the UK Woodland Assurance Standard provides assurance that the management of biodiversity on the estate follows industry best practice.

The delivery of Scottish Biodiversity Strategy objectives on the NFE also contributes to the international biodiversity targets set out in the EU Biodiversity Strategy and in the Convention on Biological Diversity's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 (Aichi targets). To ensure that the EU Habitats and Birds Directives are met, all nature conservation features of special interest on designated sites on the NFE are also monitored in collaboration with Scottish Natural Heritage under the national Site Condition Monitoring programme.

CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) worked hard to clear any backlog of freight following the MV Hebrides incident. Business and freight customers should contact CFL direct for the most up to date information and assistance during this period of disruption. CFL put in place a number of contingency measures including vessel redeployment and revisions to timetables to ensure that lifeline services continue to link to the Western Isles during this period of disruption.

The MV Hebrides resumed service on the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services network on Sunday 16 October 2016. This followed full repairs in the Garvel, Clyde, and effective sea trials.

The MV Hebrides resumed service on the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services network on Sunday 16 October 2016. This followed full repairs in the Garvel, Clyde, and effective sea trials.

The contingency arrangements put in place by the operator, CalMac Ferries Ltd, during the period of disruption, including repositioning of vessels, ensured that connectivity with the Western Isles was maintained.

Affected customers were encouraged throughout this period to contact the operator if they had any concerns.

The costs to repair the damage to the pontoons at Lochmaddy harbour are a matter for discussion between the harbour operator and CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL). No indicative costs are as yet known, however any such funding for repair will likely be an insurance matter for CFL.

CalMac Ferries Limited adhere to strict health and safety procedures including but not limited to maintenance of vessels and operational safety checks. Full details of these and other checks can be found on the operators website - https://www.calmac.co.uk/corporate/policy-documents

A formal and independent investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is currently underway. Further technical investigations are also on-going. Consequently the reasons for the MV Hebrides incident on 25 September 2016 has yet to be formally determined. Any lessons learnt will be implemented to try and avoid similar issues occurring in the future.

We take the protection of bats seriously. Defra recently published a study looking at the number of bat deaths attributable to wind turbines which has increased understanding of this issue. Currently Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are working on joint agency guidance on the assessment of the impacts of bats from wind turbines. I understand this will be published by soon.

The Scottish Government's Technology Enabled Care, or TEC, Programme was set up in 2014 to significantly extend the number of people directly benefiting from technology enabled care and support in Scotland, which includes telehealth and telecare.

Funding from the TEC Programme drives activity within Health boards, Integration Authorities and other delivery partners who remain responsibly for promotion locally. A report of the first year of funding, covering 2015-16, shows that already close to 25,000 additional people have benefited from the Programme. This report will be published later in October.

The Scottish Government will also publish this month our National Action Plan for Technology Enabled Care, setting out a range of actions to further promote telehealth and telecare as part of service redesign.

The £20 million advance payment was made to enable the delivery of the substantial subsea backhaul deployment as part of the Highlands and Islands Digital Scotland contract. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) liaised with the Scottish and UK Governments at that time to confirm that the payment was in line with relevant procurement and State Aid rules. The payment was held in a separate account by BT and the funds were drawn down following evidence of eligible expenditure. The interest earned on the funds, which totalled £606,000, was returned to HIE when the £20 million had been drawn down in full. These funds will be used to extend coverage across the region.